Index-tab.



P. H. YAWMAN.

Patented June 3, 1913.

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PHILIP H. YAWIVIAN, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO YAWIVIAN & ERBE MFG". COMPANY, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW-YORK.

INDEX-TAB.

To all wiz-0m 2f may concern:

Be it known that I, PHILIP H. YAWMAN, of Rochester, in the county of Monroe and Stat-e of Few York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Index- Tabs; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and to the reference-numerals marked thereon.

The present invention relates generally to indexing and more particularly to index tabs, being detachable devices that are temporarily or otherwise secured to the articles or parts forming the indexed series and used for the purpose of carrying the index characters in a manner in which they are conveniently disposed, or to operate as finger portions for manijziulating the said articles or parts, and the invention has for one of its objects to produce a simple, cheap and conveniently formed device of this character that can be easily and quickly applied to or detached from a card or sheet or the pages of a book without marring or injuring the latter.

improvements are further directed toward providing an improved means or mode of construction in an index tab whereby the part upon which the index character is marked or mounted may be transferred or interchanged between the parts which retain the tab as a whole upon the sheet or other article without changing the position of said parts whereby the designation of the same is altered without subjecting the sheet to the partial or serious mutilation attendant upon repeated attachment or detachment of a tab in its entirety.

To these and other ends the invention consists iii certain improvements and combinations of parts, all as will be hereinafter described, the novel features being pointed out in the claims at the end of the specification.V

In the drawings: Figure l is a collective View .showing the tab in perspective-with the locking member, which also carries the index character, removed from the attaching portion, but in a relative position indicating the method of assembling the two; Fig. 2 is a central longitudinal section through the tab, assembled, and in position upon a sheet; Fig. 3 is a longitudinal central section of the attaching portion alone, illustrating its nor- Specication of Letters Patent.

Application filed October 27, 1909.

. comprise at their outer Patented June 3, 1913. Serial No. 524,921.

mal of the locking member: spective view of the tab on the sheet, and F ig. 5 is a fragmentary view of a portion of a book or ledger upon which is used a system of 'indexing that permits of the use of a tab constructed in accordance with the present invention.

Similar reference numerals throughout the several figures indicate the same parts.

Referring first in a general way to the main features of construction and use of a tab constructed in accordance with and herein illustrated as an embodiment of my invention, I prefer to provide an attaching member, indicated by A in Fig. l that is gripped upon the indexed sheet or other article, and a locking member B that cooperates with a projecting portion thereof to assist thefgripping action and is held thereby in the desired position for convenient observance and access by the user. The attaching portion is preferably formed in such manner that it is capable of at least temporarily retaining its position on the sheet without assistance from its locking Fig. 4 is a rear perin attached position part, while the removable locking member carriles the index character, for by this arrangement the index character of a particular tab can be changed as often as desired by interehan'ging locking members, the proper position of the tab on the sheet being retained during the operation and unnecessary wear and tear on the latter thus obviated.

In the practice of my invention, the attaching portion A is formed by a pair of opposed clamping jaws l that terminate at their inner ends in engaging portions 2 and endsflat superposed shank portions 3 which are preferably joined together as shown to maintain relative positions of the parts, and in fact the whole is preferably Vformed by doubling upon itself a ribbon or strip of reasonably thin material, such as sheet steel. On the line of juncture of the jaws l and the shank portions 3` are arranged shoulders or abut- `ments 4 that may be formed as shown by reducing the width of the shank portions relatively to that of the jaws. The attaching member is preferably composed of a resilient-material, such as that above noted, and the jaws l are made to converge from the line of the shoulders t toward the atposition when freed from the controlv taching portions 2, while the shank portions 8 are similarly converged from the same point in the opposite direction toward their attached ends. The jaws are Ypressed to gether in addition to the pressure due to their own elasticity which is exerted principally in the region of the engaging portions 2 by the clamping member B which is preferably in the form of a iiattened tube 5, as shown. It is pressed down upon the converging shank portions from the position of Fig. 1 to that of Fig. 4 drawing them together and consequently similarly affect* ing the clamping jaws so that when the sleeve is in its operative position the jaws will grip the sheet, as shown in Fig. 2, not only at the engaging points 2 but also preferablyl at the extreme margin of the sheet, as shown in Fig. 2. The tube 5 is preferably generated by doubling a ribbon of material transversely of the shank portions 3 so that the continuous fiat face of the tube is coincident with and substantially covers, when superposed upon one of the shank portions, while the meeting edges engage upon the opposite side of the other shank portion so that the locking sleeve completely surrounds and, in the present instance, completely covers both shank portions and its outer extremity terminates at the outer extremities of said portions, while its inner extremity is in engagement with the shoulders 4. The index character 6 is preferably permanently affixed, as by stenciling, upon the continuous flat face of the sleeve.

In applying the tab to the sheet, the edge of the latter is first slipped between the jaws 1 until the margin thereof is even with the shoulders 4. The locking sleeve is then applied, clamping the jaws to the sheet as previously pointed out and when this sleeve is pressed home to its operative position in engagement with the shoulders, its inner or advancing end will also abut the edge of the sheet so that there will be a cooperation at two extended points of bearing to prevent a tilted displacement of the pad in the plane of the sheet, viz. at the edge thereof and on the relatively parallel line of contact of the engaging portions 2 of the jaws.

The varied uses of an index tab of the present type are too obvious to be suggested here, being broadly applicable to the designation of any article or to use therewith as a manipulating element, but in Fig. 5 is shown aninstance of a useful and more usual application of tabs embodying the present invention t0 the leaves of a ledger or other book to aid the user in identifying the leaves upon which certain entries have been made and in turning instantly to the page of his selection. The tabs are arranged as shown in progressive valinement in the well known manner of such indexes and it will be noted in this instance, particularly, that the locking member 5, being the member to which the index character is affixed in each case, lies entirely outside of the marginal edge of the page and therefore its thickness is not added' to that of the clamping jaws to unduly separate the pages upon either side of the oneupon which the tab is secured and render the book bulky along the edges of its pages. Also, the rounded surfaces of the locking sleeve are devoid of any tendency to catch either upon each other or upon the other leaves or sheets as would be t-he sharper or necessarily more angular edges of the attaching member.

I claim as my invention:

1. In an index t-ab, the combination with two resilient clamping jaws adapted to engage upon opposite sides of a sheet, shank portions connected to the jaws and adapted to project beyond the edge of the sheet, and shoulders arranged at the juncture of the jaws and shanks, the jaws being formed to normally converge from said shoulders toward gripping portions at their free ends and the shanks to normally converge from the same point toward their free ends, of a removable and replaceable tubular locking sleeve engaging upon opposite sides of the shank portion to press them together, the inner extremity of the sleeve being arranged to abut the shoulders at the edge of the sheet when the tab is in place on the latter.

2. In an index tab, t-he combination with two fiat resilient clamping jaws adapted to engage upon opposite sides of a sheet, flat shank portions forming continuations of the jaws and adapted to project in superposed relation beyond the edge of the sheet, the jaws being wider than the shank portions to form shoulders at their juncture, and being formed to normally converge from said shoulders toward gripping portions at their free ends, and the shank por tions being formed to normally converge from the same point toward their free en s, of a removable and replaceable locking sleeve composed of a piece of sheet material bent in the form of a flattened tube completely surrounding the shank portions, the inner extremity of the tube being arranged to abut the shoulders and the edge of the sheet, when the tab is in place on the latter, with the outer extremity terminating at the outer extremity of the Shanks and an index character aiiixed to one of the outer flat faces of the tubular sleeve.

PHILIP II. YAWMAN.

Witnesses:

RUSSELL B. GRIFFITH, LUCY A. VAN- COURT.

Copies of'this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

